The guy is like sandpaper grating on the skin while someone runs their fingernails over a chalkboard when you’ve got an itch you can’t quite get to under the cast on your leg.

You know, irritation to the Nth degree.

Tyler Hansbrough of the Raptors may not possess the greatest of athletic ability as he plays a game that demands it and rewards it, but he is one of the great agitators in the NBA today.

Whether it’s drawing fouls — he’s in the top 10 in the league in fouls drawn per 48 minutes, along with the likes of Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony — or committing general mayhem near the basket, whenever Hansbrough plays, stuff goes on.

“I take the energy every day,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey says of Hansbrough’s frenetic style. “I tell you, he brings it every night and that’s one thing you know.

“If things are a little stagnant, a little stale, you can put Tyler in there and something is going to happen. It may not be beautiful but it’s going to happen with energy and focus, and it’s going to be hard.”

Hansbrough doesn’t seem to care about what people think of him or what his reputation may be. He’s a man of few words — “I just play the way I play, I’m not going to change that” — who prefers just to go about his business.

And if that means getting under the skin of opponents, well, who cares?

For someone who doesn’t play an awful lot, Hansbrough does draw the ire of fans in nearly every NBA arena. Heck, Raptors fans loathed him a year ago when, while playing for the Indiana Pacers, he flung Jonas Valanciunas violently to the court. Those same fans today afford him rousing cheers whenever he checks into a game.

But he’s roundly booed every time he’s in Chicago for past indiscretions in the heated Bulls-Pacers rivalry, and there always seems to be a bit more of buzz when he’s on the floor.

That’s solely because of the way he plays: Hell-bent for leather, arms flailing and legs kicking out when he fights for a rebound, wild gesticulations when he’s aggrieved by a non-call, a push here and a shove there in the wrestling matches that follow just about every missed shot.

He’s like a car crash in the oncoming highway lanes or a great work of art: Somehow you’re drawn to him.

And if he’s on your team, he’s loved; if he’s not, he can be loathed.

In Toronto now? He’s appreciated.

Raptors historians will know he’s got some Jerome Williams in him but with a bit less of a role, he’s not nearly as tough and grizzled as a Charles Oakley or an Antonio Davis and he is not as savvy or sneaky as a Reggie Evans.

He’s skilled at some things, limited at others and there’s a reason he only averages about 15 minutes per game. He fouls an awful lot, he is not the greatest help-side defender and his run-amok style sometimes leaves the entire team vulnerable.

But he is getting better, which has allowed Casey to use him more often without too much concern in the prolonged combined absence of injured forwards Patrick Patterson and Amir Johnson.

“One thing that he’s really improved in is his passing, rolling down the lane, kicking it out, seeing his teammates. That has evolved more than anything,” said Casey.

Where it goes from here remains to be seen.

Teams have a tendency to tighten rotations in the post-season and Hansbrough seems to be a consistent fifth in Toronto’s big-man rotation, far behind Valanciunas, Johnson and Patterson and about on par with Chuck Hayes, who is a grittier and more accomplished one-on-one post defender.

Hansbrough’s ability to draw fouls is a good thing, but his propensity for committing them will be a drawback when the every-possession-counts playoffs begin in a week.

With a team option for next year at a salary of $3.3 million, Hansbrough may end up being a one-and-done Raptor, a one-year wonder who was entertaining and energetic and annoying to opponents.

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